A LOCAL Country Fire Service (CFS) captain wants a guarantee there will be no reforms to the firefighting service after the State Government appointed a new chief officer amid controversy on Friday.

Emergency services minister Corey Wingard revealed Queens Fire Service Medal recipient Mark Jones would take charge of the volunteer fire service on Friday, after former chief Greg Nettleton
did not have his contract renewed in April.

Mr Wingard came under fire from the CFS Volunteers Association (CFSVA) last week after it sent a letter to members outlining concerns it was being locked out of the recruitment process, and its criteria for hiring a new chief was being ignored.

It also argued the change of leadership could bring with it an overhaul of the service it believed would negatively affect service crews.

Mr Wingard defended Mr Jones’ appointment with his own letter to firefighters on Friday, in which he guaranteed the State Government would not be pursuing any reforms of the CFS.

In the letter, he stated he had requested to meet with the CFSVA on June 24 and had not received a response since, despite follow-up contact.

The letter also denied rumours within the CFS the State Government had a “Piccolo 2.0” reform agenda, referring to former emergency services minister Tony Piccolo’s abandoned emergency services reform plan, which would have seen the state’s emergency services merged into one department.

The CFSVA responded to Mr Wingard’s correspondence with another letter to its members, saying it was “seeking legal advice” regarding comments made by the minister.

Dalkeith CFS captain Clint Marsh said while Mr Wingard promised no changes to the service, it doesn’t mean the new chief won’t make them himself.

“I’m hoping now the minister has taken a step forward and named a new chief officer that a better, more detailed understanding will be presented to volunteers of what the intentions of the government and the new chief officer are,” he said.

“My concern is the government adheres to their word, in that they aren’t pushing a reform agenda, but I want that same statement to be adhered to by the new chief officer.

“What concerns us with any reform is that further burden will fall back on volunteers; we have a lot of pressure put on us to ensure we keep a high level of response.”

Despite the current tension between the State Government and the CFSVA, Mr Marsh assured the community their duties as firefighters would not be impacted.

“Locally, the emergency services capability won’t be impacted on, we’ll always deliver the required emergency response for our local community,” he said.